Le Perigord's cream of the crop

No fooling: Le Perigord turns 50 on April 1, and the grande dame restaurant will be celebrating its vaunted age by strutting out a menu from its youth. For the rest of the year, starting in mid-March, owner and founder Georges Briguet will be offering a $78 five-course menu of dishes he describes as “forgotten.”

“The younger generation who come now were never exposed to that food, so it should be very exciting to them,” said Mr. Briguet, 76.

Many of the dishes were taken off the menu over the years because cream is a main ingredient, such as Billi-Bi (creamy mussel soup), a cup of which will be served between the appetizer course and the entrée on the special menu.

Other dishes that will be making a comeback at Le Perigord include a watercress and endive salad with red beets, foie gras with Fine de Champagne cognac and a fish mousse.

After a few weeks, we’ll see how the public enjoys the menu, and we’ll keep it exciting,” said Mr. Briguet, whose son Christopher is manager of the restaurant. “We have other retired dishes that we’ll be bringing back.”

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